Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome

The American Heart Association defines "Metabolic Syndrome" as a group of risk factors including obesity around the abdomen, cholesterol problems, raised blood pressure, insulin resistance, and others. People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and type II diabetes.

Reference 15 notes that physical inactivity has similar consequences to those of obesity. It notes that possibly, the underlying cause of obesity is lack of regular physical activity. It is possible that it is not obesity that causes the various problems that we have summarized, but the lack of physical activity that causes both the obesity and the illnesses. They conclude that 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity, 5 times a week, may enhance everyone's health and compensate to some degree for the problems associated with obesity.

In fact, reference 9 provides a more quantitative answer for mortality: physical activity reduces the risk that results from obesity, but not to the point of totally canceling it.

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Last Modification - November 22, 2004